Making an Easter Cross

If you saved the tree trunk from last year’s Christmas tree, now is the time to make it into an Easter cross. If you didn’t, file this idea for next Easter (with a reminder in your December calendar to save the Christmas tree trunk) and find other wood to use.

Cut off the upper one-third of the trunk and fasten it across the lower part with a nail or wire to form a cross. You may wish to leave the cross plain, decorate it, or drape it with purple fabric and add a crown of thorns. Place it in a visible spot in your home as a reminder that Jesus came to die for our sins. We display our cross beside the fireplace in our living room. It stands as a ready witness and helps us share the Easter story with others.

When our children were growing up, I was reluctant to discard our special crosses, so they accumulated in the woodpile. One Easter we displayed three different-sized crosses. The larger cross in the middle represented Jesus’ cross with a smaller cross on either side. As I told the story of the two thieves crucified with Jesus, our grade-school-aged son studied the crosses then asked, “Which cross belongs to the good thief?”

I chuckled inside, thinking it’s never “good” to be a thief. But his sincere question provided the perfect opportunity to teach a lesson of our choices, God’s forgiveness, and new life in Christ (see Luke 23:32–43).

He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness (1 Peter 2:24 NIV).

You’ll find more ideas to celebrate Easter and other holidays in Lydia’s book, Preparing My Heart for Grandparenting.

Lydia E. Harris is happily married to Milt, her sweetheart for 48 years. She has two married children, five grandkids, and is the author of a Bible study, "Preparing My Heart for Grandparenting" (AMG Publishers, 2010 release). She's also a tea enthusiast and writes the column "A Cup of Tea with Lydia."